PhD student Radiology

As a PhD student Radiology you will be involved in developing the MR scans on Philips 3 and 7 tesla MR scanners. You will adapt the acquisition and post- …

ongeveer een jaar geleden

Arbeidsvoorwaarden

Standplaats:

Albinusdreef, Leiden, Zuid-Holland

Dienstverband:

Tijdelijk contract / Tijdelijke opdracht

Uren per week:

36 uur

Salarisindicatie:

€ 2279 - € 2919 per maand

Opleidingsniveau:

WO

Functieomschrijving

As a PhD student Radiology you will be involved in developing the MR scans on Philips 3 and 7 tesla MR scanners. You will adapt the acquisition and post-processing of the MR scanner to enable assessments of cellular size, MR spectroscopy and temperature, and further optimize the acquisition of the Dixon scans in line with recent literature. You will develop the protocol in healthy subjects, and will be involved in scans before and after a clinical intervention in close collaboration with a PhD student from the Division of Endocrinology. Furthermore, you will interpret the data in terms of measurement quality and physiology. You will participate in national and international conferences by presenting your data both via posters and oral presentations. The project is a collaboration between the Department of Radiology and the Division Endocrinology within the Department of Medicine. The work will be supervised by Dr. Hermien Kan and Prof. Andrew Webb at the Department of Radiology, and Dr. Mariëtte Boon and Prof. Patrick Rensen at the Division of Endocrinology.

The project

Obesity is a main risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease and its prevalence is rising worldwide. Only recently, metabolically active Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT) has been discovered as a major player in energy metabolism in human adults. While BAT is widely considered as a novel therapeutic target in the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes, the most commonly used technique and current gold standard to assess its activity is PET-CT. PET-CT scanning is used to quantify the uptake of a radioactive glucose tracer, but it has important drawbacks. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and MR spectroscopy (MRS) are considered viable alternatives without the need of contrast agents or exposure to radiation. Recent work shows that it is feasible to use MR to assess the lipid content of the supraclavicular BAT depot of human adults using the so-called Dixon technique. But the technique is far from mature as assessments of cell size, temperature and biochemistry have yet to be developed. The aim of this project is to develop a new multi-parametric approach to establish MR as a non-invasive and radiation-free tool to measure lipid content in BAT and to explore the use of advanced MR techniques to further characterize BAT cellular size, biochemistry and heat generation.

Functie-eisen

We are looking for a PhD student with an MSc in Technical Medicine, Chemistry, Biomedical Technology or a similar field. You are willing to learn how to develop and improve the acquisition and post-processing of the MR scans. You have excellent computer programming skills and have an interest in MRI and the cardiovascular system. You will independently operate and program the MR scanner. You have good social and communication skills and have a flexible attitude. Experience with MRI is preferred but not mandatory. The research group is international, thus both written and verbal English skills are essential.

Conditions

You will be employed on the basis of 36 hours per week. Appointment is for a maximum of four years, to be completed with a doctoral thesis. Your salary will start with € 2,279 gross per month in the first year, amounting to a maximum of € 2,919 gross per month in the fourth year based on a fulltime position (scale for PhD students in the Collective Labour Agreement for University Hospitals).

The terms of employment offered by the LUMC are excellent. For example, you will receive 8% holiday pay, a year-end bonus, and a pension arrangement with the National Civil Pension Fund. Also, as an employee of one of the University Hospitals in the Netherlands, you can benefit from our collective health insurance policy.

Moreover, the LUMC offers excellent facilities in terms of education, child-care centers, and career advice. In addition, you may enjoy various leave arrangements and other extras. You can read more about these facilities elsewhere on this site.

Additional information

For questions regarding this vacancy you can contact Dr. Hermien Kan, Associate Professor Radiology, telephone +31 (0)71 526 60 97, or Prof. Andrew Webb, Professor MR Fysica, telephone +31 (0)71 526 54 83, or Prof. Patrick Rensen, Professor Endocrinology, mail p.c.n.rensen@lumc.nl. References will be requested. In addition, besides handing in your CV and a motivational letter, a short vision statement of approximately 400 words is mandatory, wherein you elaborate on which skills you hope to develop during the PhD project. Due to the summer holidays candidate selection will take place in the beginning of August, with interviews (either in person or by Skype) taking place in between week 33 and week 35.